Work

I think it’s important for women to realize the commonality that we all share so that we can support each other rather than judge.

One of the places where I think women—or where I had challenges -- was the law profession is not equalized between men and women and that’s also one of the reasons why I’m in my own business.  Men still dominate the legal profession within larger firms in particular.  I would say they, as a whole, make a lot more money, they have wives—they have wives to do their housekeeping, take care of their children and so forth so it’s very different working in an environment where you’re expected to work 70 hours a week.  When it’s the mother who has the children to go home to, it’s very different.  It’s what the expectations are, and especially if you’re a new lawyer, you’re expected to just be there as long as necessary, sometimes 11 o’clock at night.  If the client’s needs demanded it, you just had to do the work: weekends, Sunday mornings, and so during the time that I was working at that rate, even though I was so-called part-time because I was only working 45 hours, I would go home, sometimes eight o’clock at night and I had not seen my children since seven o’clock that morning.  So you do feel that your—the balance is out of balance when that occurs.  It’s always a constant rebalancing act. 

See that was the tough thing.  Here I had this job that I absolutely adored, but I couldn’t travel.  Had a baby, you know, and, and that was when, you know, women were trying to have it all, and it’s really hard, and I desperately wanted to keep my job, and I also – but I also wanted to stay home so Tom McAn said well let’s see if we can make this work, and you can just be a consultant.  So for a year I tried working, and then I, you know, juggling the two, and to be honest, I just couldn’t do it.  Because the travel – I couldn’t travel, and I really wanted to be home, and I felt like I was doing neither job as well as I wanted to.  So I left Tom McAn, and stayed home for 13 years, which, which turned out to be great, you know what I mean?  That was exactly what I needed to do, and it was fabulous, but it was a wonderful job and I hated to leave it.  So – and now the job that I’m in now is part-time, and when I went back to work that is the perfect way to juggle family, and, and work.

We do nursing home shows and local things and community things, senior residences and we still do....so you get to practice your dance but dance is a performing art and if you don’t perform you don’t get the experience and the confidence developing it. I call it old dolls and new dolls and it’s one of the greatest joys of all. Teaching and being able to bring – I have students right through adult students who dance with me, little ones and their parents of the little ones. Oh they love it and this is great because to see the human interaction that goes on, the happiness, that’s just key so it’s really great. People that can’t move and then they’re watching other people that can, particularly the small ones that are so fresh and live.

I think every woman should be prepared to do what they want to do.  Don’t listen to anybody else and to also sorta feel out different opportunities.  When I was young my father would say, "Why don’t you be a dental hygienist?" He never said, "Why don’t you be a dentist?"  My brother was gonna be a doctor but I would be the dental hygienist.  Women aren’t there anymore, thank God. But there weren’t many role models when I grew up of women doing that.  I mean I do remember an orthodontist who was a woman who was one of my father’s friends.  But he never said, "Gee why don’t you do that?" The thing is, I think women need to be exposed. I like that program where women go to work with their fathers. I think the exposure and somehow I think in high school if there’s a way that kids can get exposed to different type of things at that time -- of fields and interests that they know what they want and go from there.